Scoot plans mixed Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet

Singapore Airlines' low-cost offshoot Scoot will put a dollar each way with the Dreamliner, rolling out both the original 787-8 and the larger 787-9 as the backbone of its fleet.

Scoot inherited an order for 20 Boeing 787-9s from its parent in October last year, after Singapore Airlines bulked up its order for 40 of Airbus' competing A350.

However, Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson now plans to split the Dreamliner order to include the smaller 787-8 alongside the 787-9.

"They're operationally interchangeable so there's no efficiency impact, but the different capacities open more options with respect to network and deployment" Wilson told FlightGlobal, which tips the airline is likely to take 10 of each Dreamliner variant.

Scoot is slated to receive its first 787-9 in late 2014, which with Scoot's two class layout of business class and economy will see the total seat tally blast past the 300 mark.

Scoot's 787s will feature different seating compared to the airline's current fleet, as Boeing insists on an 'off the plan' approach for the Dreamliner's economy section in which seats are chosen from a roster of Boeing-approved suppliers and models.

While airlines are free to select 'premium' seats from the same roster or install their own third-party supplied seat, cost-conscious airlines such as Scoot will lean towards the cheaper and faster option to have seats from the catalogue installed by Boeing as the 787s make their way down the assembly line.

Scoot joins Jetstar as one of the low-cost carriers stumping up for the Boeing 787, based on its reduced running costs via lower fuel consumption and longer time between major maintenance checks.

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.